The MUSEUM OF CHINESE IN THE AMERICAS documents the history of Manhattan's Chinatown and addresses the struggles of immigration and the evolving identity of Chinese Americans. MoCA is currently in the process of relocating to a 12,500 square-foot space in a building one block north of Canal Street.

With high hopes of establishing the museum as a cultural anchor in lower Manhattan, MoCA has hired architect and artist Maya Lin to design the new museum space. Lin, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, is most famous for designing the renowned VIETNAM VETERAN'S MEMORIAL in Washington D.C.

Like much of Lin's work, her design for the museum will explore the boundaries between Eastern and Western cultures. "I think this entire building will be on the edge, or an in-between," Lin told NY VOICES' Rafael Pi Roman. "Or perhaps it is going to step in certain areas more to one world and then the next. But this becomes just an incredible opportunity from an architectural design point of view to really explore that borderline situation."